{"id":70231,"date":"2020-08-13T18:58:20","date_gmt":"2020-08-13T18:58:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/08\/13\/federal-appeals-court-male-only-draft-is-constitutional\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:18:31","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:18:31","slug":"federal-appeals-court-male-only-draft-is-constitutional","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2020\/08\/13\/federal-appeals-court-male-only-draft-is-constitutional\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal appeals court: Male-only draft is constitutional"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NEW ORLEANS \u2014 A federal appeals court in New Orleans upheld the constitutionality of the all-male military draft system Thursday, citing a 1981 U.S. Supreme Court decision. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a decision that overturned a 2019 ruling by a Texas-based federal judge, a panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals <\/a>in New Orleans said \u201conly the Supreme Court may revise its precedent.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The case was argued in March and was the result of a lawsuit by the National Coalition for Men and two men challenging the male-only draft. They argued that the 1981 case was decided at a time when women were largely absent from combat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thursday\u2019s unanimous ruling from the three-judge panel acknowledged that \u201cthe factual underpinning of the controlling Supreme Court decision has changed. However, the judges noted, \u201cthat does not grant a court of appeals license to disregard or overrule that precedent.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\t